Google Checkout opens up to other countries — At least half of Google's Checkout service has been opened up to countries other than the United States. Now, regardless of where you live, you can purchase items with Google Checkout — unfortunately, finding a store that will ship internationally is quite challenging.

Yahoo & Facebook: Deal or No Deal? — Now that Yahoo has announced its reorg, many are wondering and speculating as to what the ailing Internet giant might do in terms of M&A. Put another way, will Yahoo rely on acquisitions to fix its problems and plug up its holes?

BlackBerry Orphans — The growing use of email gadgets is spawning a generation of resentful children. A look at furtive thumb-typers, the signs of compulsive use and how kids are fighting back. — There is a new member of the family, and, like all new siblings, this one is getting …

Criminals 'target tech students' — The boom in cyber crime is forcing criminals to go to great lengths to recruit skilled hackers, says a report. — Some criminal gangs are paying students while they study to ensure they have a pool of tech-savvy workers to call on, says the report from McAfee.

H.P. Will Pay $14.5 Million to Settle Suit — Hewlett-Packard said Thursday that it would pay $14.5 million to settle a lawsuit by the California attorney general over the company's use of private detectives to obtain private phone records of board members and journalists.

Do You Publish Full Text Feeds Or Partial RSS Feeds ? — Our blog has been in existence for over two years now but we always abstained from publishing full content RSS feeds for two selfish reasons (or you can call them fears) outlined below: — 1. Since RSS Subscribers get to read …

Fiber ... now faster and cheaper — If you live in the US, probably you haven't noticed it. But fiber networks are growing in popularity, luring people with faster speeds, and now lower prices. PointTopic, the company that tracks the broadband markets says that fiber networks …

Sunnyvale and Mountain View...so close, yet so far — According to Google Maps Sunnyvale and Mountain View California are 3.0 miles apart. Oddly enough according to Yahoo Maps they are 2.9 miles apart. Yet despite the estimated mileage they both claim it takes 6 minutes to drive from Sunnyvale to Mountain View.

Download of the Day: New York Times Reader (Windows) — Windows only: The New York Times Reader lets you download full editions of the NYT to your desktop where you can browse the contents offline in a very familiar newsprint format. — On installation, the NYT Reader also installs Microsoft .NET 3.0 …

Wii shortages frustrating gamers — Shortages of Nintendo Wii consoles around Europe have left some gamers who pre-ordered the new machine frustrated. — Nintendo, which has already launched the machine in the US and Japan, said it expected to sell out of Wiis on the first day of sales.

GPS, Back In the Day — Today a GPS chip can fit in a cell phone and can cost as little as a dollar. Thirty years ago a GPS device cost tens of thousands of dollars, was bigger than a bread box (see picture) and was used only by the military. Bob Rennard, chief technology officer …

Linden Lab Mutes Noted Agitator... Again — Another year, another muzzle placed on infamous Second Life celebrity Prokofy Neva by the virtual world's owner-operator Linden Lab. — Last year, Neva was banned from participation in the official Second Life discussion boards after stirring controversy …

TV networks should take Google's money — Rumours continue to fly that some or all of the major TV networks are working on a "YouTube killer" — a video-sharing site that all the big content owners would contribute their stuff to, while simultaneously suing the pants off of Google and YouTube.